The bike ride through dance history is a literal take on the idea of an archive in motion – a unique kind of urban experience that was produced during the Munich festival DANCE in May of 2019. The tour takes the participants to places that are connected to the dance history of Munich in the early modern age. Isadora Duncan performed in Franz von Stuck's villa, after which she had the opportunity to appear at the Künstlerhaus. Rudolf von Laban founded the first modern dance school in Munich before he initiated his legendary summer courses on Monte Verità. His student and assistant Mary Wigman made her debut as a dancer and choreographer in Munich in 1914 with “Hexentanz” and “Lento”. Pioneers such as Sent M'ahesa, Clotilde von Derp and Alexander Sacharoff greatly contributed to the era of modern dance in Munich. The tour illustrates that Munich was one of the most important birthplaces of independent modern dance at the beginning of the 20th century and played an important role in the history of dance until the First World War broke out.

Concept & texts: Thomas Betz, Brygida Ochaim; based on an idea by Brygida Ochaim; project manager: Gina Penzkofer; guides: Miriam Bornhak, Sabrina Kanthak, Elisabeth Kerschbaumer, Peter Sampel, Barbara Galli; producer: Nina Hümpel, DANCE, Festival für zeitgenössichen Tanz der Landeshauptstadt München; cooperation partners: Lenbachhaus, Münchner Kammerspiele, Münchner Künstlerhaus, Museum Villa Stuck; funded by: Kulturreferat der Landeshauptstadt München, Bayerischer Landesverband für zeitgenössischen Tanz (BLZT), funded by Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst, ACCESS TO DANCE as part of PAT